Although there are two months until basketball season, misfortune already has hit the NIU men’s basketball team in the form of academic ineligibility.

Sophomore forward Mike Hidden has been declared ineligible for the beginning of the 1989 basketball season. Hidden, a Rockford native, changed majors last spring from business to visual communications. Although his grades were good enough to keep him eligible, Hidden fell three hours short of meeting the university’s standards for satisfactory progress toward a degree in visual communications.

Hidden, who averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds last season, was unaware of the problem until it was too late. Don Bramlett, NIU’s coordinator of athletic counseling, then tried unsuccessfully to remedy the problem.

“This is just part of the system,” said assistant coach Bill Harris. “Nobody feels worse about this than the basketball staff and Mike. I think he was an innocent victim in these circumstances.”

arris also said Hidden had a “great attitude” in fall practices and should be able to return to the lineup by Dec. 19.

“If any good can come out of this, we now know if this happens again, we’ll be able to rectify it,” Harris said.

Head coach Jim Molinari, who was on the road recruiting, was unavailable for comment. The men’s basketball team is now down to 11 eligible players, following the summer loss of guards Marcus Coty and Jeff Delaney to academic ineligibility.